


Filling in the blanks as we go

by salvatorestjohn



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Dorks in Love, Drunk Sex, Drunken Shenanigans, F/M, Feelings Realization, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, New Year's Eve, Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but also the comics, in the space of three hours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22131130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salvatorestjohn/pseuds/salvatorestjohn
Summary: "Do you mean, like—" Barry starts, lowering his voice to barely a whisper, aware of Wally, Nia, and Nate playing twister not too far from them."We don't have to," Kara starts at the same time, shaking her head. "Not if you don't—I mean, it was just a thought—a really dumb thought. We should just for—"No," Barry quickly interrupts her, panic seizing him and taking the wheel. He hurries to correct himself as Kara falters, making it clear she isn't entirely sure what his protest is towards. "I mean, yes. I...somewhere private sounds good."
Relationships: Barry Allen/Kara Danvers
Comments: 19
Kudos: 120





	Filling in the blanks as we go

**Author's Note:**

> I am aware it's no longer New Year, I am a slow writer, but I was determined to finish this! These two need more love and Crisis is making me worried. So I'm gonna just live in my little happy bubble where these two are in love and adorable. I was gonna go with friends with benefits and make it a slow burn but I've decided I might do that as a separate fic...

STAR Labs is a mess. It almost seems worse than Frost's birthday party, just with fewer people. Although, in all honesty, Barry can't quite tell how many of their friends are around him right now because his head's a little fuzzy and people keep moving around to grab another drink or for whatever reason. A nice little side-effect to the special rum Kara brought over from her earth. 

Something pokes at his brain and he remembers. Not her earth. There's only one now thanks to the anti-monitor and Oliver, which is something that Barry's still attempting to wrap his head around and failing. He's already had at least three drinks from the bottle that Kara keeps passing him, shared between the two of them since it would more than likely give anyone else in the room alcohol poisoning from just a sip. 

Victories don't come easy to them. There have been a few metas here and there that haven't required as much time and effort to stop as the others have, but it's always a risk, always a possibility that they'll lose, no matter how optimistic they try to be. They never thought they had any chance of beating Crisis. 

But they did. They beat it, somehow. And they're all still alive. 

Countless innocent people were lost in the destruction of the rest of the multiverse, but everyone that Barry cares about is in this very room, celebrating in their own way. Whether that's lounging across the couches half-unconscious or attempting to play twister or flicking through TV channels. That's all that matters to him, and this is exactly how he wants to go into the new year which is just two hours away. 

Barry feels something nudge his arm and tilts his head back. Kara's hanging over the back of the couch, holding the nearly-empty bottle of rum out to him. There's a soft, glazed sort of look in her eyes, but there's a twinkle that's carved into her smile that lets him know she isn't as drunk as some of the others.

"You look like you're thinking too much," she says in explanation and points a finger at him. "No thinking allowed, remember?"

Barry nods, his mouth curving up. "Right. Absolutely."

They all agreed on it; it's New Year's Eve, they beat Crisis, and they all just want to enjoy that. Just for one night. Which means no thinking about what might come next or any of it. 

He accepts the bottle from her before his train of thought can get caught up in a tangle again, his mind working faster than he's able to stop it. He takes another swig from the bottle, grimacing at the slight burn in his throat. 

His face must twist and contort into some strange expression of disgust like it seems to have every time he takes a drink because Kara laughs as he hands the bottle back without looking. 

"Oh, rum does not taste nice," he says, shaking his head. "Nope."

"But you feel like you're floating, don't you?" Kara says, and it's clear by the slight giddiness in her voice that she certainly does. 

Now that he's thinking about it, he does feel a bit lighter. He lifts a hand, turning it over slowly. When he flexes his fingers and curls them back in, they barely feel there at all. It's like he's surrounded by a cloud.

"Yeah," he agrees, nodding slowly as his eyes narrow. "That's so weird. What's in that stuff?"

Kara just laughs and shakes her head. "I have no clue," she says, shrugging it off. 

Whatever it is, it's exactly what they need right now. Barry stretches his fingers back out with a slight hum while Kara hops over the back of the couch and lands next to him with a huff. He looks up and finally realizes that her glasses are ever so slightly askew. Either that or his vision is starting to go wonky, which really wouldn't surprise him with how hard that rum is hitting him. 

"Why do you wear them when it's just us?" he asks without thinking, nodding his head at her glasses. 

Kara pauses and he swears she goes cross-eyed for a second to try and see what he's talking about before she catches on, her mouth forming a silent "oh" of realization. Maybe the alcohol is working its way into his system faster than he thought it would but it's actually pretty cute. Then again, that's just one of Kara's permanent states of being as far as he's concerned. 

"Habit, I guess." She shrugs, lifting the bottle to her lips without a thought.

His eyes follow it as if with a mind of their own, watching as she tips her head back to take another drink, accidentally knocking her glasses a little further to the side in the process. She seems to notice as he cracks a grin and she laughs, nearly choking. 

"You are so drunk," Barry says, shaking his head at her as she quickly covers her mouth and tries to swallow before she starts laughing again. 

"Hey, I—I am not _drunk_ ," Kara says, pointing a finger at him again. It pokes into his chest and even that feels like a feather brushing against his skin through his shirt. "I am just...buzzed. Lightly."

"Buzzed lightly?" Barry repeats, his grin growing as Kara seems to struggle not to crack. "Okay, sure. We'll with go that."

He pauses, his eyes slowly narrowing as Kara's eyebrows shoot up, looking absolutely delighted. 

"Now who's drunk?" she teases, her entire body pressing forward as that same finger pokes into his shoulder to emphasize her point. 

Barry rolls his eyes, but they dart back down to her hand. "I'm just..." he licks his lips, trying to think of any other word, but his slightly fuzzy brain is only conjuring up the same two and it's clear all over Kara's face that she knows that, "...lightly buzzed."

Kara laughs, a noise that doesn't quite leave her mouth, bubbling in her chest and lighting up her entire face and making her eyes crinkle. His stomach swoops and he faintly wonders if Ray's shrunk down and crawled into his veins because his heart is sort of doing a strange flipping thing as if there's a tiny acrobat bouncing around inside of him. It's not entirely unpleasant, if he's honest. 

"Well, then we can be lightly buzzed together," Kara says, lifting her head, sounding a lot like a seven-year-old declaring that they will rule over their secret treehouse that no one else will be allowed to enter without the password. 

It only makes the tiny acrobat swing from one side of his stomach to the other. His chuckle in response has her smile widening until he's sure it can't anymore, pulling her lips apart and her eyes doing that scrunching thing that always makes him feel some type of way that he doesn't quite have a clear enough head to label. 

"Your glasses still aren't straight," he points out. 

She merely shrugs. "It's not the only thing about me that isn't." Barry grins and quirks an eyebrow, agreeing as she continues. "Besides, I can't be bothered fixing them. Too much effort. Not enough energy."

"You're adorable," he blurts out. 

Kara doesn't look even mildly fazed, and Barry's surprised that he doesn't care all that much either. It might be the rum, it might be the fact that he's supposed to be dead right now but isn't and couldn't be more grateful for it. 

"You're pretty cute yourself, Barry Allen," Kara jokes, tilting the bottle of rum at him. 

Barry rolls his eyes and feels his skin prickle. When he reaches out, deciding to give her a hand and fix her glasses, her eyes follow and cross again to keep it in sight. She blinks when he slides them off, and it seems to take her a second to adjust, blinking slowly.

He just folds the glasses up, setting them aside in case she needs them later. Doubtful considering they're all taking a break from playing superhero to bring in the New Year, but that's exactly the reason why he can't be certain they'll actually manage that without interruption.

He nearly startles when he feels Kara's hand on his arm and turns to her with a curious look, expecting to be offered another drink, only to find her slightly closer than she had been before. 

"Do you..." Kara starts, then falters, looking somewhat anxious as her eyes dart off to the side with her lips still parted enough to distract him until she's dragging his gaze back in with a spark of confidence. She tilts her head up, licking her lips, and lowers her voice before asking, "Do you maybe wanna...go somewhere else? More...private?"

The question hangs for a second. Barry just stares at her, trying to make sense of it. Go somewhere more private? But all of their friends are here, celebrating together. And Kara is just watching him with a strange sort of nervous energy that has her eyes filled with curiosity as she chews on her bottom lip in wait, offering no further explanation. 

"What do you...?" he starts, his brow furrowing, his head tilting ever so slightly and even in his somewhat intoxicated state, he's sure it's the expression that Iris and others have referred to as the confused puppy look he apparently pulls often enough for them to have given it a name.

Then it clicks. The question fully digests into his fuzzy mind and his eyes grow wide. Kara's quickly follow and the nervous look on her face morphs into one of worry and tiptoeing right into regret, clearly interpreting his reaction as an answer. 

"Do you mean, like—" Barry starts, lowering his voice to barely a whisper, aware of Wally, Nia, and Nate playing twister not too far from them.

"We don't have to," Kara starts at the same time, shaking her head. "Not if you don't—I mean, it was just a thought—a really dumb thought. We should just for—

"No," Barry quickly interrupts her, panic seizing him and taking the wheel. He hurries to correct himself as Kara falters, making it clear she isn't entirely sure what his protest is towards. "I mean, yes. I...somewhere private sounds good."

Surprise flickers across her face now, her eyebrows shooting up. Her lips slowly curve at the corners, still slightly parted.

"Really?" she asks, and he can hear an edge of giddiness to her voice that resonates in him.

Barry nods without needing to think twice. "Yeah."

"Okay," Kara says, slower now, her brow scrunching as she tries to think. "Well, um...your place? Because I'm kinda staying with Kal and Lois right now, you know, with the whole earths merging together thing and destroying my home, and I'm not sure that would be the best idea, for obvious reasons. Wait, how do we even get there? I—I can _not_ drive, and I have a feeling that you—"

"Trust me?" Barry asks, cutting her off with a spark of mischief.

Kara falters, but he knows it's only because of her confusion, and then, with complete sincerity, says, "Always."

Barry's grin widens, and even now, hearing it makes him that little bit happier. He doesn't wait any longer. He reaches out and wraps an arm around her waist at a normal pace, picking her up. The lightning that crackles inside his head and vibrates through his veins tells him that he's a mere blur as he runs them out of the cortex.

They're out of STAR Labs and running through the streets of Central City in the blink of an eye. He hears Kara suck in a sharp breath when she realizes before he feels her arms wrap around the back of his neck and the breath turns into a giggle.

His eyes dart down to her in surprise that only grows at the exhilaration shining in her eyes, wide open and embracing the speed force right along with him. Everyone usually keeps their eyes shut as tightly as possible, just trying their best to ignore the nausea. But Kara...

She looks up at him, meeting his gaze for just a split second. Then his eyes are back on the streets ahead of them, grinning again as they zip around a corner, and another, and another, until they're flying up the stairs of his apartment building and knocking open his unlocked door with his shoulder, letting it swing shut with the wind on their trail. He really needs to stop leaving it unlocked, but it's worked in his favour this one time, at least.

They stumble to a stop in the middle of the room, caught up in the last of the speed force's energy. They accidentally knock back into the couch and nearly go toppling over it from the rush, grabbing at each other to steady themselves.

Kara grins despite now being stuck in what he thinks has to be a mildly uncomfortable position, half-leaned back over the arm of the couch with only his arm around her and his other hand firmly planted on the top of the couch keeping both of them from falling. She just gives a little huff of a laugh, a strand of hair shifting ever so slightly out of her face.

"I somehow feel both more and less drunk at the same time," she says. 

"It's the, uh..." He clears his throat, feeling his face flush at the close proximity, not helped at all by Kara clearly picking up on it. "The Speed Force. It had a similar effect on me when I first got my powers. Because of how fast you're moving and tapping into this outside energy source, it sort of just...builds up more adrenaline than your body and mind are used to handling and overloads it in the same way alcohol can. Plus, you know, running real fast after drinking half a bottle of alcohol tends to have a strange effect."

For a second, he worries that he's just done that awkward rambling thing that makes people look at him like it wasn't even English. But Kara smiles, nodding as if he's making perfect sense which he's honestly not even sure is true, and he reminds himself who he's talking to. 

"That's actually really interesting," she says with complete sincerity. "I wonder if it would do the same while flying? I know that the whole vibrating cells thing doesn't work quite the same way. Trust me, I've listened to Winn analyze all of the possible differences in our DNA way too many times. But do you think it would feel similar?"

"Only one way to find out," Barry says, shrugging. 

Kara's eyes light up. "You would trust me enough to test it with me? Because, I could do it myself, but I'm used to flying, so it would be pretty interesting to see what kind of effect it would have on someone who isn't, like I wasn't with the whole speedster running thing."

"Yeah, absolutely," Barry agrees without hesitation. 

He smiles, looking her in the eyes, and he's never been this close to her before. He's always thought they were pretty from afar but they're stunning up close, and he faintly wonders if it's some Kryptonian thing. 

"I'll always trust you."

Kara's expression softens, that happy smile on her lips and everything about her really is entrancing. How he's never really noticed it before is a mystery to him, unless the times he's let his gaze linger a second or two longer than everyone else counts. 

"Even while carrying me a hundred or so feet in the air while you fly across the sky at impossible speeds to test a theory," he adds, cracking a grin now, unable to help himself.

It's completely worth it for the way that her entire face splits in the blink of an eye, her eyes scrunching and crinkling again as she laughs with her whole chest, her head tilting back then to the side. It's the most beautiful thing he's seen, and his own laugh is distant to his ears, his every sense focused on Kara. 

Kara's just barely stopped laughing when Barry makes a split-second decision and leans in. Or more down, really, because their angle still isn't exactly the most ideal, but his lips are on hers either way, and it doesn't matter too much. 

It draws a noise of surprise out of Kara. It's hard to tell if it's a protest and it's barely a kiss, really, but Barry immediately pulls away.

"Is that—is that okay?" he asks, his eyes wide, his heart leaping into his throat. "Or do you not wanna do the whole kissing thing? 'Cause I'm cool with that, if that's what you want. I just...really wanted to kiss you."

The admission wasn't quite planned, but it's true, and now it's out there. He had never thought about it before, but in the moment, it makes so much sense and the fact that it's taken so long for him to even consider it is what doesn't. 

His skin still prickles all the same, his face flushing. He's never been this direct. It's probably the alcohol.

Kara's eyes are just as wide but her smile is soft and fond. And so utterly _Kara_ that he practically melts on the spot.

"It's absolutely okay," she says, nodding, and he can already feel her hand moving from his shoulder to the back of his neck.

He happily lets her pull him back in until he's kissing her again. Or maybe she's kissing him. The distinction doesn't really matter to him when the main priority is that it's happening, and _god_ , does it feel good. It's like even his skin is vibrating in response to her fingers brushing against it, his lips almost tingling with hers moving with them. 

Kara then makes the mistake of trying to pull him down a little more, and Barry makes the mistake of trying to follow. His hand loses its steady hold on the top of the couch and the next second, they're both falling onto the couch.

Kara groans and Barry's right there along with her, the arm not wrapped around her bent at an odd angle, pressed uncomfortably into the couch. He quickly shifts his weight to not be completely on top of her, guessing she already can't be that comfortable. 

This was absolutely not his intentions. He had no intentions beyond the possibility of something happening between them, but now they're in the most awkward position they could have only put themselves in with virtually no space between them aside from maybe a few inches.

They look at each other, and within seconds they're both cracking up. 

"Okay, I think it's safe to say that we are both still pretty drunk," Kara says, and Barry agrees with a snort. "And maybe we should have moved this into the bedroom a little earlier. As comfortable as this is, I think I would probably prefer the bed."

The air in Barry's throat catches for a second, but then he forces it down and nods. 

"The bed is way more comfortable," he promises, cracking a grin. "My room's the one on the right when you go up the stairs."

Kara's brow furrows as he pulls himself up, helping her straighten along with him. "You're...not coming with me?"

"I think we could both use some water first," Barry explains and motions his head to the stairs. "I'll be there in a flash."

Kara's exasperation shines through clear as day, but his grin only brightens. She rolls her eyes, giving a slight shake of her head at his lame pun that's bound to have gotten old by now. Yet he still catches her smiling as she follows his directions up to his bedroom, leaving him watching her back as she makes her way up the stairs.

The second she's out of sight, he speeds around the kitchen to grab two glasses and fill them with water. He's careful to slow down while carrying them up the stairs, of course; he's embarrassingly learned his lesson on more than one occasion. Liquids plus speedrunning when he's not careful usually do not equal a good result unless one enjoys being soaked.

When he reaches his room, he nearly spills them anyway. Something about seeing Kara perched on the edge of his bed throws him off a little and does something to him that has that little acrobat inside of him finally reemerging. It's good. Pleasant.

"Water for one Miss Zor-El," Barry jokes, holding one of the glasses out for her to take as he approaches.

"Oh, why thank you, Mr Allen," Kara replies, playing along as she stands and accepts it from him. She starts to raise it to her lips, then falters for just a second as her mouth quirks ever so slightly and she adds, "You know you're the only one who uses Zor-El for me, right?"

Barry shrugs. "Feels natural, I guess. Plus, it sounds super cool and really pretty and very badass. All things that you are."

Kara raises an eyebrow as she drinks at least a quarter of the water. Barry takes a drink of his own as well, and he swears that her cheeks tint a light shade of red. Or maybe it's a trick of the light. Or a trick of that Aldebaran rum.

"Flattery," Kara says as if observing, narrowing her eyes rather theatrically. "Interesting choice."

"Hey, that was an innocent compliment. And I could rattle off a dozen more." 

Kara clearly catches the reference and she shakes her head, but she's starting to laugh again at his goofy grin.

"It just happened to fit the situation," he says, giving another halfhearted shrug.

He should be a mess right now, shouldn't he? Tripping over his words and too nervous or worried to say half of the things that are coming out of his mouth because this is _Kara_ he's talking about—and to. But he just...doesn't care. Whatever was in that rum can't be good for him.

"Fine, but you have to stop quoting that song." Kara grimaces. "I still have dreams about that place and the music meister."

"Yeah, me too! Is it just me or did he seem really familiar?"

"Yeah!" Kara agrees, her eyebrows furrowing. "I was thinking that as well. There was just something about him."

"Wonder where he went," Barry muses.

Kara just shrugs, neither of them actually able to answer it. He could be anywhere in the world unless someone didn't handle being taught a _lesson_ by him the same way they did, or even with the effects of Crisis. They're still trying to figure out who exists in this universe and who doesn't outside of their own teams.

"Well, he's not here or inside of our heads, and that's good enough for me," Kara says then drinks the rest of her water.

Barry couldn't agree more. This is all real, not some hallucination or mind trick caused by any of their enemies, and at this point, that's a miracle. He follows her lead, finishing off his glass before taking her empty one and setting them both aside. 

There's a slight pause when he turns back around, uncertain of how best to proceed, but when Kara steps forward, resting a hand on his arm, his brain just sort of switches off. He thinks too much. 

He takes the step to close the gap, his hands on either side of her neck in a second. Kara meets him with the same level of eagerness as he tilts his head and she leans up onto the tips of her toes to kiss him back. Their movements are a little rushed and clumsy, unsurprisingly. Barry presses forward ever so slightly and suddenly Kara's walking backwards without breaking away, holding him by his elbows. 

He's happy to follow each step, feeling her hands start to slide up his arms. They press flat against his chest as he tries to manoeuvre them to the bed based solely on instincts and a reliable enough memory, and not get distracted by the fact that she's unbuttoning his shirt.

His focus slips the tiniest bit. One more step forward and Kara makes a noise of surprise as her legs hit the edge of the bed. She loses her balance out of surprise. Barry's fast, but he's not fast enough to stop it and is instead tugged down by the shirt that Kara still has two handfuls of when she falls.

They both breathe out a mildly winded chuckle that almost sounds like groans. Barry just lets his forehead rest against Kara's shoulder as he closes his eyes, feeling the vibrations of her laughter as they regain their composure. At least this time it's more comfortable.

The rest of the room is otherwise silent for a beat, neither of them moving. In all honesty, Barry doesn't mind so much.

"You don't think this is a sign, right?" Kara asks softly, traces of laughter still peeking through in her voice as Barry lifts his head, his eyebrows furrowing. "Y'know, because we keep tripping over things and messing it up, it's actually the universe trying to tell us that...maybe this just isn't...supposed to happen?"

Barry looks her in the eyes for a moment, considering. On any other day, he might say that cosmic signs were real. That destiny and fate exist, because with everything with Crisis, it clearly does. Maybe it's the alcohol, or maybe it's just because he's fed up of the cosmos and the universes, but for once all he can think is screw that. Screw being controlled, thrown about and forced down a certain path by some unseeable being or whatever. 

"Do you still want to?" he asks. 

Kara pauses for just a second to think, and he's glad that she does. They're both still tipsy, obviously, but he wants her to be sure. 

"Yeah," she decides, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I still want to."

"Then I don't think it's a sign," Barry says with a shrug. "And if it is, haven't we earned a night of ignoring what the universe wants? We just altered our entire lives for it. Who cares what it wants us to do tonight if it's not what we want, right?"

Kara's smile takes over her whole face, her mild worry obviously eased by his assurance.

"Yeah," she says again, slowly, but certain now. "You're right. Screw the universe."

"That's the spirit," Barry says softly before she's kissing him again and he's smiling too widely for it to really work, but he doesn't care.

He knows his answer to his own question would be yes, he absolutely wants to do this, without a doubt, and so much more, because she is beautiful, and his mind isn't working properly, so the only other word he can pull up is perfect. Everything is just _right_ as he kisses her, neither of them bothered that they still haven't moved from where they fell.

He has no idea if these feelings were here before, just lying in wait inside of him like a dormant volcano ready to erupt, but they're here now, and they're all-consuming but without the suffocating part. Kissing her, having her this close, feeling her hands on his skin—it lights him up inside and caresses every nerve like she's actually reaching in and letting him know that she's there and she wouldn't rather be anywhere else.

Her actual fingers are back to his buttons, he realizes when he feels a slight tug on his shirt as the button refuses to budge, her hands a little clumsy and slipping. Barry breaks away from the kiss and reaches down to help her.

His hands move faster than her eyes can see, even if it's normal speed for him. She blinks in surprise as he now tosses his shirt and t-shirt off to the side when she still had at least seven buttons and another layer to go.

"Perks of super speed," he says, his grin quirking into a half-smirk as he readjusts above her.

Kara's eyebrows raise, and she asks, "Are there any other...perks, that I should know about? Just...before we...you know..."

It takes Barry's slightly-slower-than-normal speedster brain to catch her drift, her lips slipping in and out between her teeth with curiosity. 

"Oh." His eyes widen. "Oh, _no_! No, no more—" he coughs, clearing his throat as his skin prickles, "—nothing like that. Nope. All good."

"I mean, it would have been fine if there _was_ ," Kara's already saying in a rush, her own face starting to flush. 

Barry shakes his head vigorously. "There's not. At all."

"Okay! That's—that's, uh, that's good to know."

Kara nods slowly, more to herself, it seems. Barry can't help his grin's return, even if it's accompanied by a slight grimace.

"Should we just...you know, carry on...?"

"Oh, yes please," Kara says, the relief immediately spreading across her face.

And they do, simple and easy as that. Getting lost in kissing Kara is just as easy, he notes while doing exactly that. He's faintly aware that her hands are now against his bare skin, running over his chest. Every place she touches heats up and he can feel himself flushing, leaning into every brush of her fingers.

His own hands shift their attention to her shirt, careful, deft fingers slipping each button undone with a buzzing underneath his skin. Kara helps him out, moving her arms and leaning up enough to let him take it off completely and add it to the growing pile of clothes on his floor.

"Could we...?" Kara murmurs, and her eyes dart to the top of the bed. "We're just sort of hanging off."

He nods, and they momentarily pull away to scoot up the bed and better position themselves. Barry pulls an extra pillow from the otherwise empty side of the bed and slips it under Kara's head to make sure she's comfortable.

"Good?" he asks, pausing.

Kara gets this adorable little grin and nods, all slow-like, biting her bottom lip. "Mhm. All good."

"What?" he asks, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion.

It takes him a moment to realize her eyes are darting down, and this is the first time she's seen him without a shirt on. Her raking gaze is far more obvious now and only making the blush worse, he's sure.

"You're just really pretty," she says with complete sincerity, reaching back out and stroking her fingers gently over his chest. 

Barry bites the inside of his cheek, but he's smiling anyway as he glances down, following the path her fingers create along his skin before his eyes drift to her. Kara doesn't blush as much as he does, but the light, subtle shade of pink is there, spread across her skin like some intricate pattern that he could spend hours mapping.

"Well, you're absolutely beautiful," he says, and smiles wide as Kara's face scrunches once more until her laughter almost sounds like giggling. His own kind of does too as Kara leans up, tilting her head enough to pull him into a kiss that's more smile and teeth than actual kissing.

Barry redirects his attention and his mouth, kissing the corner of Kara's lips, then her cheek, down to her jaw, enjoying how it makes the vibrations of her soft laughter stronger. Kara tips her head slightly, clearly have no problem with his shift in attention.

He barely manages to stop himself from grinning as he trails his lips along her jaw with light presses here and there. He can hear her pulse going like a drum beneath him, feel it with every kiss, almost as fast as his own. 

Her hands are moving, he registers, one running slowly over his side. The other slides up the back of his neck and sends a tingling shiver all the way down his spine and into his stomach as she threads her fingers through his hair.

Every touch feels like a million brushes against his nerves, and he doesn't know if it's because of his DNA, Kara's, or just the simple fact that he's enjoying it and doesn't want it to stop. That, and how Kara reacts to his lips against her neck, wandering to her throat. It's a noise that's somewhere between a muffled laugh and a soft moan, and it has his heart pounding in his ears, blood rushing around his head. 

Barry can feel it; the buzzing under his skin, growing stronger. He kisses Kara's throat, smiles when she swallows, sucks a light red mark onto it without thinking. With their speed healing, it probably won't even last until the morning. 

He continues down, his lips pressing against the soft skin of her chest. He pauses when he hears Kara suck in a quiet breath. Peering up at her, he finds her smiling, her eyes on him. Watching, following his every movement. Something swoops in his stomach, their giddiness clearly not quite gone even now. 

Holding her gaze as he kisses her like this with his lips slightly parted in a smile does something to him. Seeing Kara looking at him like this—her eyes lidded yet wide, dark and filled with curiosity and a few other things that are making his chest tight and want to take things at a speedsters pace is practically overwhelming. Why the hell didn't they do this long ago?

"Is this okay?" he asks, practically murmuring it into her skin with a grin as his hands slowly move up her sides, across her stomach. 

Kara nods, humming from the back of her throat. It's one of the prettiest sounds Barry's ever heard.

"Definitely okay," she tells him. 

He nods back slowly then falters, thinking. "Would it also be okay if we...swapped?"

Kara pauses for a second of confusion before catching on and shrugging. "Yeah, sure." 

They switch places without issue. Kara settles on top of him with ease as Barry props himself up against the pillows.

"Good?" she checks, and Barry isn't sure he could be anything else right now with her looking down at him like this.

"Yeah. Perfect."

Kara's smile stretches all the way across her face as she gives a slight shake of her head. He then gingerly reaches out, his eyebrows raising slightly in silent question as he rests his hands on her waist. He's met with no protest, and Kara's smile softens as she nods again.

She leans down and Barry pushes his neck out to meet her halfway, their lips meeting with a soft, buzzing familiarity.

The thought sparks something to life in Barry's chest. That some of this is already starting to become familiar. He'll memorize every second for as long as he has. 

Kara's already got her own arms hooked behind his neck to better angle her head. He gently runs his fingers up and down her sides for a moment before straying around to her back, relishing in the feeling of her underneath his hands. The curve of her spine beneath the tips of his fingers, the dimples just above the waistband of her jeans. 

Barry separates their mouths again to return to trailing his lips along her skin, lingering on her neck for a second as it makes her lift her head and let him press into the slight dip beneath her jaw. It earns him a soft moan and he can feel her smile without needing to see it. Her hands rub along his shoulders, squeezing for a moment before continuing halfway down his back.

Her skin is warm, he notices as his lips brush her shoulder, his hands on her back. That blush he spotted before is still faint, but the heat emanating from her and sinking into his own skin is telling enough on its own. 

Barry pauses, one of his hands sliding back around to her front, up her arm. The back of his fingers stroke along her shoulder as he presses a kiss to her collarbone. Then another just a little higher as he gently pushes her hair away from her shoulder, sweeping it to one side. 

"Do you want me to get that?" Kara asks, making him lift his head to look at her. "My bra. The clasp can be a bit hard to get."

"Uh—sure," Barry says, quickly pulling his hand away. "Yeah, you do that, and I'll..."

His eyes dart down and Kara's face flushes a deeper shade of red now. His own skin is on fire just at the thought, but there's a giddy sort of excitement still clinging to him, and he can feel it in her as well. 

Kara presses her lips together and nods in agreement. There's a glint in her slightly too-wide eyes and the way she catches her bottom lip between her teeth makes his grin widen, even if his heart skips a beat or two. 

Barry watches her hands for a second as she reaches behind her to undo the clasp. Then he tears his eyes away and shifts his attention and his hands down to the zipper on his jeans. It should be easy enough, and usually is, except he can't quite get a grip on it and when he does, it doesn't seem to want to budge. Just his luck. 

It takes an agonising moment of chuckling at his own failed attempt and glancing at Kara, who isn't having much more luck than him with her bra, before he finally manages to yank the zipper free. Catching his finger in it in the process. 

He hisses, quickly pulling his hand away, then tries to play it cool, but his finger is stinging and he's pretty sure he just took a whole two layers of skin off of it. Of course.

"Oh, wow," Kara laughs, but clearly hurries to suppress it, her eyes wide with amused concern, "are you okay?"

"Yep," he answers, holding the finger between the edge of his lips. "Not the first time I've done that."

"I'd believe that." Kara waves a hand towards him, and the way her eyebrows raise an inch or two with those wide eyes peering into his own has his heart fluttering like a trapped butterfly in his chest. "Do you want a hand?"

The implications overload his mind. He holds her gaze as he nods slowly, throwing in a quiet "mhm" to be sure. Kara's smile widens a little and she reaches down to the now half-undone zipper. One of her straps slips down her arm and all of his attention goes to that as he feels her hands brushing his thighs through the thin material of his jeans.

"Do you want me to...?" he asks, pointing at it.

Kara pauses, glancing at it before saying, "Yeah, give it a shot. I think it's stuck."

Barry slips his hands back around to the clasp. Sure enough, it feels like it's caught on the material. If he wasn't still in his screw-the-universe mindset, he would definitely be thinking that this is too many coincidences. But it doesn't feel that way as Kara completely unzips his jeans and he manages to free the clasp after a moment. 

Mini obstacles aren't signs to stop. They just have to find a way over them, and he's noticing that they make a pretty good team.

"God, thank you," Kara says as he slips a strap down one arm. "I forget how uncomfortable that is until it's off."

Barry laughs, tilting his head as he slips the other strap down her other arm before dropping it off the side of the bed. "I can only imagine. Though these jeans are going to be the death of me in a minute."

"Maybe we should get them off then," Kara says, biting her lip all mischievous-like with a twinkle in her eyes and an attempt to be seductive in her voice. He's gotta say, it isn't entirely unsuccessful. 

It's just that they both laugh and sort of ruin the effect. Or maybe it makes it better. 

"Who knew you were a flirty drunk?" he teases, and leans up to kiss her, his hand momentarily snaking around to the back of her neck, pulling her in close. He would stay like this forever if he could. With Kara pressed close, his only focus on how nice her lips feel as she kisses him back even with a soft chuckle.

"Lightly buzzed, not drunk," she reminds him without pulling back, her eyes fluttering open to look at him. "And who knew that you would be such an affectionate drunk? Well, more than usual, I assume."

Barry gives a mock gasp but doesn't even bother to smother his grin. "Are you calling me _clingy_?"

"Absolutely not," Kara says, shaking her head. "But if this was what you were like when clingy then I certainly wouldn't mind."

"Well, it's at least better than crying over chicken."

Even in his somewhat fuzzy state, he can clearly recall the last time he got drunk. He really wishes he couldn't. 

Kara pauses, her eyebrows creasing with a confused little tilt of her head. "You cried over chicken?"

"Not important right now, I'll tell you later," he says, brushing it off. 

Kara still looks curious but she lets it drop, instead nodding her head down towards his jeans questioningly. He gets the message and she pulls back enough for him to be able to pull them off while she unbuttons her own. In a few seconds, the clothes pile on the floor has two extra layers. 

For a moment, neither of them moves. Barry's breath catches in his throat, his lips parting as his eyes trail over Kara. She's doing the exact same thing, biting down on her bottom lip. 

They're both having a similar thought process, Barry's sure; something along the lines of _holy shit_. 

Then Kara clears her throat, snapping them both out of it, both flushed, and Barry can hear his own heart as if it's inside his head. He breathes out deeply, nodding slowly, and their gazes lock. Slow smiles form on both their faces. Barry's almost positive that this isn't how this is usually supposed to go, right? 

But Kara moves back up the bed towards him, and he reaches out to wind his arms around her waist, and he doesn't care how it's supposed to go. This way is much more fun, and surprisingly comfortable. He lets his brain switch back off as Kara leans into him, no space between them, and kisses him as if it's her favourite thing to do now. How could anything else that isn't this be right?

"Word of warning, if you laugh once, you're gonna set me off as well again," Barry murmurs, flicking his eyes up to hers, trying his hardest not to grin. 

Kara doesn't even bother. "Then we'll both be laughing."

Barry chuckles, and yeah, there they go. Kara presses their lips back together as if that'll make any difference. It barely works. Barry can still feel the vibrations in his chest, spreading throughout the rest of him, tingling the surface of his skin. 

He carefully leans back, Kara following until they're back in their previous position. Barry slips a hand through her hair, lingering to brush the side of her neck. Kara makes a soft little humming noise into his mouth that makes him melt and he's sure would have him doing just about anything she wanted.

One of her hands trails its way down his stomach. She skims along his hip bone, caressing the slight dip that leads to the hem of his boxers as her other hand rests on his chest. His heart reacts as if sensing it just above, skipping too many beats in its attempt to reach out. Going so fast that it's practically—

Kara jolts back as if shocked. Barry is quickly pulled out of his mind and hurries to calm his cells back down to their normal speed. His heartbeat returns to normal in seconds as he forces his body to stop its vibrations. As soon as he's still again, a wave of embarrassment washes over him, making his skin burn.

"I'm—I'm so sorry!" he rushes to say, his eyes just as wide as Kara's as she just stares at him, seemingly uncertain of what just happened. "It's the whole speedster thing, obviously, but I completely forgot that that can happen—it hasn't in a _long_ while. Just, when my body gets worked up, my cells start vibrating on their own like when I'm running, and it can be sort of difficult to control them at ti—"

"You don't need to apologize," Kara cuts him off. She makes it sound as if him doing so makes absolutely no sense. 

Barry falters, his eyebrows drawing together. "I...I don't? But...?"

"Barry, I'm literally invincible," Kara says, her mouth stretching into a grin. "A little bit of vibrating isn't gonna hurt me."

It's a good point, Barry thinks. He usually does have to be wary that he doesn't accidentally vibrate so much that he just fazes and ends up messing up in some unexplainable way, but with Kara's abilities, it's not exactly the typical situation. 

"And, honestly, being able to vibrate your body in bed really doesn't seem like much of an issue. At least to me."

Barry's eyes grow a little wider as Kara raises her eyebrows, and his skin is on fire, the blush spread across his chest deepening. But hearing it said like that, he realizes that she isn't exactly wrong. With anyone else, it's a little more complicated, but Kara knows he's the Flash. She knows his abilities for the most part and how they work.

"Huh," he says, and Kara's grin grows. "Never thought about it like that."

"Guess there was a speedster perk you forgot to mention after all," Kara jokes. "Every disadvantage can become an advantage. Just gotta find a way to make it one."

"I guess that's not so hard with you then," Barry says without thinking, but he's sincere. "What with you knowing who I am and our similar powers. Maybe the universe is trying to tell us something after all."

Kara smiles at his joking tone on the last part and nods. "Yeah, exactly. It's perfect."

Barry's head tilts, gazing up at her. He smiles, his eyes crinkling ever so slightly. Maybe nothing's perfect, especially with their universe not even their own anymore and everything a little cracked and broken all over. But this feels good, and like one of the best things that's happened in his life recently. That's as close to perfect as he's ever gotten, he thinks.

Kara leans back in until she's close enough for Barry to slip his hands up either side of her neck and meet her in the middle, kissing her deeply. Neither of their smiles really dissolve, even as time slowly passes, laughing when they get clumsy or simply because they lock eyes and just feel this bubble in their chests. It doesn't ruin it at all.

It's Barry's phone ringing somewhere in the pile of clothes on the floor that comes close to that. But this is their night off. Screw the universe and all that. So he just tells Kara not to worry about it, making them both laugh as they ignore it until it stops, and they're free to enjoy the next three hours they spend easily getting distracted by each other from everything else outside of the little bubble they've created around them.

Neither of them is really thinking afterwards, their giddiness turning to an almost tired contentment that makes it rather easy to drift off to sleep. It doesn't last long, of course, but Barry will admit, it's one of the most peaceful naps he's had in a while.

Waking up is a little less peaceful; his head is sore as if he's recently been thrown into a wall, which is less painful for him than it should be. He immediately recalls the one time he got hungover before he was a speedster.

It was Iris' and his college friends' fault for convincing him that he could handle thirteen shots. He definitely couldn't, and he honestly can't remember a single thing that happened aside from that it gave him the worst migraine and he had to spend the entire day after in bed trying not to throw up. This feels like a slightly milder version of that. 

He forces his eyes open despite the heaviness of his lids and is relieved to find the room still in almost complete darkness. The light above is at least dull enough for his eyes to quickly adjust with just a couple of blinks against the slight burn. 

His senses come back to him slowly, at least for his normal pace of things. Everything feels dulled, yet too sharp and a little fuzzy around the edges. 

He lifts his head slightly, careful in his movements as he cranes his neck to look at Kara. Her eyes are closed, her lips parted enough to take in quiet breaths. There isn't a hint of worry or stress on her face. She looks completely at peace. 

Barry smiles. With everything that's happened lately, it's rare to see any of them without their guard up, or that weary, defeated look in their eyes. He lowers his head, his lips pressing against her shoulder in a not-quite-kiss, just resting there for a moment. His eyes track over the little red marks scattered up her neck, one standing out on her throat. Clearly their healing doesn't quite work the way he thought it does.

"You know I can feel you staring, right?" Kara mumbles, her voice an octave lower and softer than usual, a sleepy edge to it.

Barry startles slightly, his eyes widening a touch as his head shoots up. He hadn't even realized she was awake. But it's only momentary before he's relaxing again, watching her mouth curve at the corners even as her eyes stay closed.

"Yeah, I know," he lies, giving a half-shrug that she can't see. "But can you blame me?"

Kara groans, and his eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"I'm too hungover to respond to that," she says, rolling herself over and burying her face into his pillows, muffling her voice. "Say it again in ten minutes and I'll be able to think of something."

Barry chuckles. He props himself up on his free arm, the other wound around Kara. Clearly neither of them move much in their sleep considering it's exactly how they were just an hour or so ago, with Barry cuddling her from behind. It was easy to fall asleep with the gentle lull of her heartbeat so close and her skin pressed against his own. 

"Ten minutes to get rid of a hangover, damn," Barry jokes. "And I thought my record of twenty minutes was impressive."

"Perks of being an alien," Kara mumbles. "But I hate being on a planet with this sun. I never got headaches on Krypton."

"Really?" Barry asks in surprise. "That is so cool." 

Kara makes a quiet noise of agreement and Barry makes a mental note to ask her more about Krypton at some point. She seems to like talking about it, and even though it was destroyed years ago, he'd still like to know some things about it. But he has a feeling that now isn't quite the right time. 

"Do painkillers work on you or do you need some supercure for hangovers?" he asks with a grin, stroking his thumb along her side. 

"Painkillers are fine," she answers.

He nods, though she's not looking, and pulls his arm back to roll onto his side. He stretches to his right and opens the drawer next to his bed where he stores any basic necessities that he might not be able to get out of bed for. Things have been bad lately and even superheroes struggle to pull themselves out of bed after the things they've seen. 

The thought is pushed far to the back of his mind and he grabs the painkillers that Caitlin was able to figure out how to make after one too many fights ended up in him injured and having to wait until his healing fixed him up. He speeds out of the room and down the stairs, filling a glass of water and chancing his luck by speeding back into the room. Thankfully, it doesn't spill.

Kara lifts her head at the crackle of lightning from his return. He holds the glass out for her to take as she rolls herself back over, sitting up with the covers pulled up around her.

"Take five," he tells her, nodding at the little strip of tablets he hands her. "If you're anything like me then that's the minimum for it to work."

Kara does as instructed, swallowing them down with the water with ease. "Thanks."

She then hands the glass and the tablets back to him, her eyebrows raising pointedly. He gives a grateful nod and takes them back. He takes a couple of the tablets as well and finishes off the water as Kara tucks her knees up, adjusting the covers around her. 

"Hey, do you know what time it is?" she asks, resting her chin on her arms. "I think I left my phone back at STAR Labs."

"Uh, yeah. Let me just—" Barry stretches back over the side of the bed, setting the glass and the painkillers down before searching for his phone in the pile of their clothes. He retrieves it from the pocket of his jeans and quickly lights the screen up. "It's just left half eleven. Not quite New Year yet."

He glances at the notifications. Oh boy. Eight missed calls—two from Cisco, three from Iris, one from Caitlin, and two from Alex. There's a voicemail or two and a couple texts as well. He unlocks the screen and checks the ones from Cisco first. The worry that had been starting to build quickly dissolves at the typos and nonsense, none of it seemingly of much importance aside from asking where he went. 

"Everything okay?" Kara asks as he scrolls through the many drunken texts from Ralph letting him know that Alex wants to know if he's with Kara.

"Apparently our disappearance didn't go quite as unnoticed as we had thought it would," he says says, turning to toss his phone over to her, which she catches with ease. "I didn't even know Alex had my number. Or that Winn did, for that matter."

Kara scrolls through a couple of the texts from both of them, her eyes darting across the screen. "They must have gotten them from Cisco or someone. But at least there's been no meta attacks, so that's good. I'm not sure Alex is gonna see it that way when she realizes I wasn't kidnapped and that's the reason I was ignoring her."

Barry grins, taking his phone when she hands it to him and slipping it back into the pocket of his jeans. He then pushes himself back up to sit properly on the bed, still halfway under the covers. 

"We should probably get dressed and head back over to STAR Labs," he says, already picturing how annoyed Iris is going to be that he just up and left. There's a good chance Cisco won't be too pleased either. Hopefully they'll both be too drunk by now to care. At least until tomorrow.

Kara groans theatrically, sinking down in the bed and leaning back against the headboard.

"Do we have to? Your bed's so comfortable, and my clothes are all the way over there. And I'm kinda hungry."

He smiles, shaking his head. She couldn't look any cuter or more beautiful right now if she tried, he's positive.

The sheets covering her but leaving the marks he left with his mouth on display along her neck and just beneath her collarbones, and her hair a little tousled from his hands running through it. The way she's gazing up at with wide, blinking eyes, as if it'll help convince him to comply with her great idea that he's absolutely ready to go along with in a heartbeat. 

"How about we stop for Big Belly Burger on the way there?" he suggests, scooting up to lean back next to her, turning his head to look at her.

"That only solves one problem," Kara points out, smiling back at him. "You're still gonna have to come up with a good enough reason for me to leave this bed, or else I'm staying right here."

"What makes you think I would mind that?"

Kara falters. He can see it, the subtle pause, the way her lip part ever so slightly. The way her eyes light up in surprise and he watches a touch of relief sink in. 

Her entire expression softens. Any uncertainty that might have been poking at Barry when he woke up fades under her gaze.

"That's not a very good argument for why we should go back," Kara says, her smile growing as she does. 

"Maybe I've changed my mind," Barry shrugs at her quirked eyebrow. "You presented a good case. And I'm mostly just delaying getting lectured by Alex when she's sober enough to notice those. She scares me."

He gives a little motion of his head, his eyes drifting to her neck. Kara's brow furrows, but when she lifts a hand to gently feel along her throat, it seems to come back to her. He can't help but glance up at her face as she laughs softly. There's that same relaxed look from earlier. Her bottom lip catches between her teeth even with a smile, and she doesn't look at all bothered.

"Do you think my shirt would cover them?" she asks him, mildly hopeful but sounding more amused than worried.

Barry hums in the back of his throat and narrows his eyes. Kara tilts her head and moves her hand out of the way as he tries to remember what her shirt looks like on her. She arrived at STAR Labs with it already three buttons undone.

"Nope," he decides, shaking his head. "The ones on your shoulder and at the bottom of your neck, yeah, but the one on your throat's too high for your collar to hide, even if you did it up all the way."

Kara feigns a sigh, turning her head back to look at him. "You just had to be an affectionate drunk."

"I thought we agreed on lightly buzzed," Barry says, his eyebrows drawing together. 

Kara rolls her eyes, but it makes her laugh, and her laugh is contagious, really, making him grin.

"You make a good point, though." She reaches out, her fingers brushing his chest, making him glance down. She moves them up his neck and she's biting her lip again, and there's a strange feeling at the spot she seems to be lingering at. "Alex would kill me as well if she saw these on both of us and realized that's why we ditched them."

Barry can't see his neck, but he thinks it's safe to assume that it's in a pretty similar state as Kara's. They did get a little carried away, he'll admit. It was just so easy for once to forget everything else and just be happy in the moment, get lost in it. In each other. Kara's still slowly stroking his neck.

"All the more reason to just text Cisco back to let them all know we're alright, and just stay here," Barry says, his voice lowering on its own, as if sharing some secret between just the two of them. 

Kara gives a soft huff of amusement, her lips quirking. Her fingers move up to trace his smile. She's biting her lip again. He wants to be closer, even though there's really not that much space between them as it is, he wants it to be her lips against his. But all of his giddy confidence seems to have left him, and he doesn't want to make the wrong move. 

"Would it be okay if I kissed you right now?" Kara asks softly, surprising him as her thumb pauses over his lips. "I mean, I know it was okay earlier, but I just want to check, because I know we were both a little drunk. In case you feel differently now."

She took the words right out of his mouth, but all Barry can do for a moment is look into her eyes, thrown by the question. Then he's nodding, slow, and huffing out a breath of relief as his lips stretch beneath her thumb. 

"Yeah, you can kiss me," he says. 

Kara moves her hand to rest on the side of his neck and leans in. It feels like slow-motion and he wouldn't be surprised if he accidentally slips into the speed force, feeling a faint vibration beneath his skin. He's already kissed her— _many_ times now—and yet his heartbeat still flutters and skips when he closes his eyes just before he feels her lips press gently against his own. 

The careful tentativeness is short-lived; as soon as Barry presses back, tilting his head ever so slightly, she's kissing him like she did earlier. With certainty and warmth. Barry can't help but smile into it, no matter how much he tries not to. He feels Kara's mouth curving as well, setting her off. They still don't quite pull apart and Barry's glad. 

Glad that she doesn't move away. Glad that he can reach out and touch her like this. Even a little glad that he knows this isn't going to end with him having to say goodbye to her in a few hours when she breaches back to her own earth, as bad as it makes him feel to think. He's just glad that she's here. 

"We should really go," Kara says.

"Yeah, like, right now." 

They hurry to pull away now, Barry stretching off the bed and tossing Kara items of her clothing to speed the process up.

"We should be back there before midnight, right?" Kara asks, worry clear in her voice now as they begin to dress, already fastening her bra back in place in a way that looks too complicated for Barry to even try and figure out right now. "I mean, we've got roughly twenty minutes, and we both have super speed."

"Yeah," Barry nods, slipping a leg into his jeans as he shrugs, "of course. Even if we do stop at Big Belly Burger, it'll only take us, like, five minutes tops if I speed us in and out. It'll be fine."

Kara agrees, though neither of the sound too sure about that. Neither of them are all that great at being on time for anything, and ditching their friends and families on New Year is sure to earn them a whole lot of annoyance considering the plan was to be together when it hit midnight. 

Barry thinks that they still technically would have been, but he's pretty sure that saying that to them would only reduce any chance of Alex ever liking him and of Cisco being willing to forgive him for ditching his game of twister. 

"Hey, quick question," Barry says while he's trying to figure out where exactly he put his belt, making Kara glance up at him in the middle of doing up her last four buttons. "Just, you know, before we face everyone and they inevitably figure out why we left, because, well..."

He pauses to waves a hand in her direction, his eyes going to her neck. He was right. Her collar doesn't cover two of the marks, and even if only slightly intoxicated, one of their friends are bound to notice and match it with the one blossoming beneath his own jaw. 

"Just because I don't want to say the wrong thing," he continues as he successfully locates his belt and slips it on. 

He catches Kara glancing up at from the corner of his eyes, then spots her head shoot right up and he's pretty sure her eyes widen as he pauses again and turns to properly face her.

"What exactly are we saying? Not that I want you to feel pressured or anything," he hurries to say, shaking his head. "I just know that there will be questions, and it would just be somewhat easier if we both know how we were going to answer them."

Kara falters, her eyebrows raising, clearly caught off-guard as her hands pause with two buttons left. "Uh, I guess I hadn't really...thought about that. Not to say that it's not worth thinking about it, obviously! Just, you know, I've been distracted."

Barry cracks a small smile at how she glances away on the last word, her cheeks definitely tinting that subtle pink. She slowly does one of her last buttons, a thoughtful look on her face as Barry mirrors her pace while finishing adjusting his belt.

"Well, I suppose there's no long-distance between different earths for us to worry about now," Kara muses, clearly listing that as a pro as he did. That at least alleviates the guilt of thinking it from his shoulders. "And it's not like we only see each other every now and then since Kal and Lois have practically moved in down the street."

Barry's pretty sure he knows where this is going, and he really hopes he's right. He stays quiet all the same, letting her think it through. 

"And, I mean—" Kara looks over at him now, pausing for a beat as a small smile forms across her lips, "—I like you. A lot. Clearly."

Barry snorts at that, and Kara laughs. The thin layer of awkward tension that had been starting to settle uncomfortably over the room through Barry's own overthinking speedster mind evaporates, replaced with that comfortable warmth he's felt for the last three hours.

"I like you a lot as well," Barry says, half-joking, but completely sincere.

"Which is good," Kara continues, waving a hand at him as she takes a slow step forward, as if he won't notice. "Because, you know, that makes it easier. Relationships always work way better when both people like each other. A lot."

Barry doesn't miss the subtle, or maybe not so subtle, implication. It makes his veins vibrate as if there's literally lightning coursing through his blood, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't pretty damn happy right about now. At least that's confirmed between them.

"Yeah, you're right," he agrees, nodding, ignoring the fact that he's grinning from ear-to-ear. "And, uh, I don't have to call you my girlfriend if you're not okay with that. There are a ton of gender-neutral terms out there, just pick one. As old-classic-western as it sounds, partner could work. I would be more than happy with that."

Kara's eyes practically light up and only grow brighter the more he talks. She takes the last few steps to reach him, leans up, and kisses him. The rest of what he was about to say—mostly more suggestions—doesn't even make it out of his brain before they disappear and all of his attention is focused on Kara, and her mouth moving with his, and her hand curling around the back of his neck.

When she pulls back, he blinks, slightly confused. She's beaming, though, even as her teeth catch her bottom lip for a moment.

"Thank you," she says. "This earth's whole thing about gender still confuses me since we never had any on Krypton, but if I'm okay with being called Supergirl, then I'm okay with being your girlfriend. Although, I wouldn't mind sounding like an old classic western. What do you think, _partner_?"

Barry laughs at her emphasis and strange attempt at a southern accent, and the little eyebrow wiggle she gives just for the fun of it. "Maybe girlfriend isn't so bad if you're okay with it."

Kara grins, and says, "I am."

That's enough for him. She's more than enough for him. 

They quickly finish getting dressed and Barry speeds them back out of his apartment and onto the streets of Central City. They make sure to stop in at Big Belly Burger on the way to STAR Labs, loading up on a wide variety of foods, including a whole load of doughnuts. 

With both of them needing to carry the food, clearly the only viable way of getting back to STAR Labs is by racing each other to see who can get there the fastest. It's a tie as they both speed into the middle of the room with all of their friends at the same time. 

It's safe to say that their gift of food draws most of the attention away from their absence. Mostly. 

Barry's pretty sure Alex is glaring at his neck, and he can take a pretty good guess at why. He just busies himself with doughnuts as no one seem to really notice that Kara's legs are draped over his, both of them sitting on the floor and laughing along with everyone else when Ralph, Wally, Thea, and Jesse attempt a round of twister and end up in the worst tangle in the history of the game. 

They're all at ease as they bring in the New Year together, already figuring out how to function as one team. One big family, really.


End file.
